jblowery wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:29 pm
This has happend a few times lately. I have the left protected. Maybe a side ace or maybe not. The up-card may be the rt. Partner rarely seems to go alone in these situations. We also have a very probable trick, especially if I have the ace. He turns down the rt bower and then our opponents get a trick or it goes all the way around the table and my partner ends up having to call reverse next where I have nothing.
Would you order up the rt when you have left protected?
What if you also have a side ace?
If I have a protected left and a side ace, I'd be very strongly considering ordering up the right and going alone depending on what the other cards are. If my second trump card is the king or ace, it's an even easier loner since you've got three very likely tricks.
Otherwise, yes, the general rule is that you don't order up the right to your partner unless you have three trump because of the risk of messing up their loner. In practice, most people won't go alone unless they're holding three trump including both bowers so if you're holding a guarded left, you probably should order up.
As I said though, depending on what my other cards are, I'd be very strongly considering going alone. For example, this hand is a great loner:
if you're ordering up the Jack of Diamonds.
Less obvious but still a decent loner:
with the Jack of Hearts being ordered up.
Would order up but probably won't try it alone:
with Jack of Hearts as the upcard.
For the most part, I do order up the right if I'm only holding a guarded left. The exception to this rule is if I've got a partner that I know can be aggressive with loners like Wes. With someone like that as a partner, they're going to pick up if they've got anything at all in their hand and will certainly go alone without the left. They might even try it without the right (I've done that more than once). But with an average partner, I'm ordering.
Honestly, I don't think people try second seat loners anywhere close to enough. Especially in the first round. You already know that one trump is out of play and you know what it is, so you've got a better shot at scoring the loner sweep than you do with any other position (except for maybe the dealer).